Elementary School Archives

Emily Andrews

August 26, 2015

Emily Andrews is an Early Childhood Learning Specialist.

She works as an independent consultant at a variety of private preschools as well as working one-on-one with children and families as a private tutor and parent coach.

She visits children in their homes and in their classrooms to observe, play, and make suggestions to their teachers and parents regarding how best to support their developing learning skills.

Emily has worked at a variety of early childhood settings in New York City for over ten years and has had a variety of roles ranging from a classroom teacher, a SEIT, a program director, and a consultant. She has unique program development experience having helped launch both an afters chool program and an inclusion preschool and has insights as to what skills a child may need to strengthen in order to thrive in a variety of educational settings.

Emily received a dual Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education and Special Education from Bank Street College in 2007. In 2010, Emily was honored to be selected as one of 12 individuals for Bank Street’s Autism Annotation program, a U.S. federal fellowship that focused on deepening one’s preparation to work with student’s on the autism spectrum. Emily is passionate about supporting all children’s learning and classroom readiness skills, including: attention, executive functioning, social cognition, and most importantly CONFIDENCE. She believes that children acquire these skills most successfully when they are introduced through individualized play techniques that draw upon the child’s true interests and strengths.

Emily is also a parent to a lively and charming two year old girl!

Nicole DeMartino

July 20, 2015

Nicole DeMartino wanted to become a teacher since she was a child and gets to live out her dreams every day as a classroom teacher at PS 172 in Brooklyn, a model inclusion school, where she joined the faculty in 2013. In additional to her full time work with the NYC DOE, Nicole is also a part-time Director and Curriculum and Instruction Specialist with My Learning Springboard. She previously taught at the Parkside School on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. She received her B.A. at the University of Miami in 2009, with a double major in elementary education and Spanish language, and continued her education at NYU, earning her Master’s degree in Childhood Special Education.

Nicole DeMartino has experience teaching and tutoring a diverse group of students from many backgrounds and with varying abilities. In Miami, she completed her student teaching experience in a 2nd grade general education classroom and assumed all roles and responsibilities of the classroom teacher. While studying at NYU, Nicole did her student teaching in a 1st grade CTT classroom at P.S. 261 in Brooklyn and in a 5th grade self-contained classroom at The Parkside School on the Upper West Side. After developing a strong, positive relationship with Parkside, Nicole was offered a full-time teaching position as a 2nd grade teacher. She believes that all students learn differently and, therefore, she uses a variety of materials, methodologies, and targeted support to differentiate her instruction.

In her free time, Nicole enjoys traveling, reading, cooking, seeing movies, and spending time with family and friends in NYC and on Long Island.

Laurie Gross

July 20, 2015

Laurie Gross brings her expertise to My Learning Springboard as an Educational Consultant and Family Advocate, Reading Specialist, and Instructional Coach for families and schools in the New York City and Washington, DC metropolitan areas. Laurie is also a Professional Member of the Washington Independent Services for Educational Resources (WISER) and an adjunct professor at George Washington University, where she works with graduate teacher interns in a supervisory and mentorship role.

Laurie Gross’s School Leadership Background

Laurie is a highly experienced educator and school consultant with more than 40 years of experience in the Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) system and beyond. Early in her career, Laurie taught children with learning disabilities and emotional disturbances in grades 5-12, and was a special educator at the high school level. She then moved into administration as a special education supervisor, providing support and oversight to the special education programs in 25 (K-12) schools. Laurie spent the last 18 years of her school system career as an elementary school principal. With dual Master’s degrees in Reading (K-12) and Special Education (K-12), as well as Administrative Certification, Laurie has a unique perspective regarding student learning with regard to how best to deliver instruction to all students. Laurie has a special way of building trust with all stakeholders, and she views herself as a child advocate who places the needs of the child above all else. To that end, Laurie works collaboratively with families, schools, and private tutors to design differentiated educational programs for their student(s).

Prior to her retirement from Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, Laurie served as principal of Somerset Elementary School in Chevy Chase for nine years. Somerset Elementary School is one of the highest ranked schools in Montgomery County as well as in the state of Maryland. Under Laurie’s leadership, the student body grew from under 400 students to over 500 students, while maintaining an excellent instructional program that met the needs of its increasingly diverse student body.

Somerset provides an inclusive educational environment for all students in its attendance area. As a Home School Model school, all special education students are fully included in their grade level classrooms with support provided in a seamless manner using a co-teaching model as well as a pull-out model.

During her tenure in MCPS, Laurie worked collaboratively at the school, cluster and central level, building relationships that allowed her to secure resources for her students and school(s). As she said each year to an audience of parents at Back-to-School Night, “Being smart is not something that you are born with, it is something that can be learned and it is our responsibility to figure out what your children already know, what they need to learn, and what to do if they already know what we are teaching.” She will do the same for your children.

Rachel Hirshan

July 10, 2015

Rachel completed her undergraduate degree from University at Buffalo in speech language pathology. She then earned her Master’s at CW Post in General and Special Education, Grades 1-6, with a concentration in Autism Spectrum Disorders. She also has a certification in Applied Behavior Analysis and several years of direct instructional experience. Her love and passion for teaching children has been prevalent since she was young.

Rachel is currently working at IS125Q, the Woodside Intermediate School, in Queens, teaching 6th grade self-contained math, science, and social studies. Many of her students enter 6th grade performing below grade level expectations in math, reading, and writing, and it’s Rachel’s job to close the gap and scaffold instruction so that each student succeeds. Rachel previously taught a private school on the Upper East Side as a Learning Specialist, where her students ranged from second to eighth grade.

While being a highly adaptive and versatile educator, she has enjoyed the opportunity to teach a diverse group of children including those with Autism Spectrum Disorder, speech impairments, noncompliant behavior, learning disabilities, physical challenges as well as typical children. These experiences have helped her blossom into a well-rounded and compassionate individual, private tutor, and educator, who takes each student’s unique goals, interests, and needs into account and creates effective lesson plans and activities to accommodate and motivate them to grasp and maintain their attention. She always makes sure that each child receives individualized praise and encouragement insuring that he/she remains motivated and does not become frustrated or quit. Rachel has expertise in a variety of instructional programs and interventions, including Orton-Gillingham, Wilson Fundations, PAF, and Boost as well as Handwriting Without Tears, Judith Hochman’s Teaching Basic Writing Skills, Words Their Way, GoMath, and Everyday Math. Rachel is also experienced with Kindergarten Readiness coaching, including ECAA and AABL preparation, as well as NY State test preparation.

When not teaching, Rachel enjoys going on vacation (especially to tropical islands when it’s cold in New York), cooking, babysitting and spending time with friends.

Laura Cloher

May 29, 2015

Laura Cloher is a graduate of the University of Maryland where she received her undergraduate degree in Family Studies with a concentration in Early Childhood Education and her Master’s degree in Elementary Education. She teaches elementary school in Silver Spring, MD and privately tutors students at the elementary and middle school levels in the Washington, DC area.

Teaching is a passion for Laura and she strives to meet students’ goals, both academically and socially. Because her students’ success is important to her, she creates a learning atmosphere that respects and enhances each individual’s diverse personality and learning styles. Since each learner is unique, her teaching strategies are constantly changing to match her pupil’s speciﬁc needs. Laura does an amazing job of building solid educational relationships with all of her students. She has had experiences working with students PreK to fifth grade with various learning disabilities including ADD/ADHD, Autism, speech impairments, and students who are developmentally delayed. Laura is the 2012 Marian Greenblatt award winner for Scholarly Excellence and Commitment to Students with Diverse Needs in Montgomery County Public Schools.

Always aware of good health and ﬁtness, Laura established Girls On The Run (GOTR) at her school. In addition to her teaching, Laura is dedicated to running and has completed 17 marathons. She believes her training keeps her focused and motivated to continually try her best and excel at what she does. Laura takes this mentality into her teaching with the mantra “Never Give Up!”

In her spare time, Laura enjoys swimming, practicing yoga and reading.

Laurie Gross

Laurie Gross’s School Leadership Background

Rachel Hirshan

Laura Cloher

Company Overview

School Planning

Private Tutoring

Test Preparation